Whale washes up on beach in West Bay

911 received a call on Tuesday afternoon that a dolphin had washed up on the beach by Spanish Bay Reef in West Bay.

Onlookers around the whale that beached itself and died near the northern tip of Grand Cayman Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Simon Boxall

The Department of Environment attended the scene and determined the creature was in fact some sort of beaked whale, most probably a young pilot whale.

Some youngsters who spotted the animal say they watched it for about four hours before they called 911, when it washed up on shore.

When the call came in at around 1pm they indicated the whale was still alive, but by the time the scientists reached the scene the whale had died. Veterinarians from St Matthews University are planning to perform a necropsy to determine what caused the whale to strand on the beach.